The Dino Babers era came to an abrupt end in 2023 as the former Syracuse head coach did not see the finish line. Babers was relieved of his coaching duties with one game remaining on the schedule, leaving Nunzio Campanile to steer the Orange through their final regular season game against Wake Forest and the Boca Raton Bowl appearance the team earned by defeating the Demon Deacons.
SU started off the 2023 season on a roll, winning each of their four non-conference games to start the campaign. The highlight was the third game in that span when they finished a home-and-home series with Purdue by defeating the Boilermakers, 35-20. Quarterback Garrett Shrader was a force, racking up 195 yards and four scores on the ground under the lights on national television.
Two weeks after that highlight, the ACC schedule got underway and the Orange fortunes went south. Syracuse dropped their opening five conference games, the first four coming in routs on the road. Shrader got banged up, but was able to finish that fourth game, then could not answer the bell the following week when SU made it five straight losses in a listless home effort against Boston College.
The team went extremely run-heavy on offense after that, relying heavily on direct snaps to running back LeQuint Allen and tight end Dan Villari, as well as the occasional one to a clearly compromised Shrader. The switch paid off as a surprise against Pittsburgh in Yankee Stadium as each of the three ran for over 100 yards in the 28-13 victory.
Once the reconfigured offense was on film, it was manhandled in a loss at Georgia Tech, leading to Babers’ dismissal at with the team standing 5-6. (Following the season, it was reported that Babers needed to finish the schedule at 7-5 or better to keep his job.) Campanile took over as the interim coach and the Orange showed their pride by defeating Wake Forest at home, 35-31, to notch their sixth win and clinch consecutive bowl berths for the first time in a decade.
While a bowl game drubbing at the hands of South Florida was still three weeks away, athletic director announced a new leader of the SU football program. Georgia defensive backs coach, elite recruiter, and New Jersey native Fran Brown was named Syracuse’s new head coach. He hit the ground running.
With Campanile still running the team through the bowl game, Brown was free to focus on recruiting for both traditional high school athletes and in the transfer portal for college players. Before the bowl game, Brown had seven commits come through the portal, led by four-star Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord and four-star Texas A&M defensive end Fadil Diggs.
Brown kept adding pedigreed players through the portal throughout the offseason, landing transfers from name programs including Georgia, West Virginia, LSU, Alabama, Washington, and Notre Dame, as well as other schools. Syracuse also added a class of 26 incoming freshmen that formed a top-40 recruiting class, a higher ranking than in recent years.
That incoming talent and the mostly new coaching staff also has some proven talent returning for the Orange. A preseason All-American last season, tight end Oronde Gadsden II returns from injury that cut his season down to just seven receptions. Allen, who picked up 1,064 yards and nine scores on the ground, will lead the backfield once more.
OFFENSIVE POSITIONAL PREVIEWS
On the defensive side of the ball, the top four tacklers from last season are back, led by do-it-all linebacker Marlowe Wax and safety Justin Barron. Wax led SU with 110 tackles last season, including 11.5 for loss, to go with four sacks, an interception, and four forced fumbles. Barron had 90 stops, forced three fumbles, and tied for the team high of seven pass breakups.
DEFENSIVE POSITIONAL PREVIEWS
Brown’s almost entirely new staff, with Campanile the only coach to remain with Syracuse from the previous regime, will revamp the team’s schemes. Defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson, a lifelong friend of Brown’s and another excellent recruiter, left Texas A&M and will swap out the 3-3-5 alignment for a 4-2-5 scheme. Jeff Nixon, who has a long career of coaching in both the NFL and collegiate ranks, left the New York Giants to take the offensive coordinator job, a position he last held in college at Baylor before spending the last four years in the NFL.
The spring game was a very vanilla affair, as the team kept it pretty plain on both sides of the ball. While his game coaching acumen is truly yet to be seen, Brown’s penchant for recruiting has certainly lifted interest and expectations in the Orange this season.
SEASON PREDICTIONS
· Former Syracuse punter Brendan Carney: 8 wins
· Former Syracuse defensive back Carl Jones: 9 wins
· ESPN ACC writer Andrea Adelson: 6+ wins
Prognosticating a season result is not the easiest thing to do with this Syracuse team. While they enter the year with a more talented roster on paper than most in recent memory, it remains to be seen how that roster settles into the depth chart and produces on the field.
Still, Syracuse's schedule is also more easy to navigate this season. They avoid games against Florida State and Clemson, while not facing a Power 4 team in its non-conference schedule.
OPPONENT PREVIEWS
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